Clock mechanism



T. WATSON AND C. F. WEBB.

CLOCK MECHANISM. APPLICATION man JUNE 7,1920.

1,36 ,004, Patented Feb. 8,1921.

3 SHEETS SHEET I.

w 7/11/1114 Illa/1171s 1 Inventor; Tit/22,1 ,307 C. F. WeZZ. 48 JM fifty T. WATSON AND c. F. WEBB.

' CLOCK MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 7, I920- 1,368 ,OO4. Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- T. WATSON AND 0. F'. WEBB.

CLOCK MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 7, I920.

1,368,004. V Patented Feb. 8,1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

,rnouns wA'rsoN AND cnmsrornnn FREDERICK WEBB, or xmvrxsn 'rowiv, LONDON, ENGLAND.

CLOCK MECHANISM.

To all whom it may concern I Be it known that we, THOMAS WATSON and Cunis'rornnn FREDERICK. WEBB, both have the wearing parts and the degree of wear to which such parts are subject re- 'duc'ed to a minimum.:

The invention consists in a clock in which the balance member is carried by a pivot or pivots adapted to. roll relativelyto the hearing or'bearings forsuch pivot or pivots.

. The invention-also consists in a clock of the above character in whichthe balance 25 member carries the-pallets.

- The invention also'consi sts in a clock of the above character in which the track on tails and arrangements 5 hereinafter particularly referred to. T he accompanying drawings illustrate more several modes. of carrying'out the inven- Figure 1 is a front elevation of the escapement wheel on an enlarged scale showing .the 'pallets andfa portion of a verticalbalance arm and the means'of supporting same. Iiig. 2 is a part sectional side elevation Fig. 3 is afrontelevation on an enlarged scale showing a modified arrangement of mechanism such as is shown in Fig.1.

Fig. 4iis apart sectionalside elevationof Fig. 3. I

Fig. 5 is a front elevation'showing dia-' grammatic 'form thecomplete vertical form of balance arm in relation to the escapement.

'- F ig. 6 is a front elevation showing diagrammatically the horizontal balance arm arrangement shown in Fig. 3.;

Fig. 7 v is a front elevation in dia rammatic form of a clock mechanism an case arranged in accordance with the invention.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

Application filed June 7, 1920. Serial No. 387,008.

Fig. 8 is a plan of 7 with the case in posed parts omitted for clearness.

Fig. 91s a front elevation of part of the escapement' wheel, pallets, pivot and balance arm intended to show the action of the esca ement.- I 11 carrying the invention into effect in one convenient manner as illustrated, for example, in Figs. land 2, the balance rod a of steel or other material is supported vertically at or about the middle by a pivot or pivots b 0 and carries ateach end a balance weight 0 (Fig. 5)..

The pivot or pivots roll upon a suitable support. which is slotted or recessed and the balance arm hasfixed thereto or com bined therewith the escapement pallets d a which are preferably of the dead heat form.

The escape wheel f is so arranged that part of the support on which the: balance rests is curved preferably to an arc. of a circle struck from the center of the escape wheel so that the" balance rod and pallets auto- T maticfally adjust themselves to any reasonable variation of the clock-level. The escape wheel maybe above or below the pallets or in any intermediate position, and the period ofvibration may be arranged for half-second, one second, oriany'other intervalwithout any alteration in size or construction by merely changing the 1 position of the weights inrelation'to'the center of balance.

The balance may, therefore, be conveniently arranged to swing once per second and the escape wheel to contain 30 teeth and rotate once per minute, so that with this arrangement aseconds hand can be" fitted to the escape wheel arbor and will indicate true seconds without intermediate'jumps or'po sitions which is for many purposes a great advantageover other known forms of'clock in which this feature is absent.

In the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the pivots b 0 roll in holes or slots 9 formed both in the movement plate '71, and in a bridge-plate i and the operation of the escapement wheelbalance arm'and pallets will be clear from a study of Fig. 9 of the drawings in which a which isthe angle between the vertical and the axis of the balance arm in its extreme. position is half the total swing of the pendulum assuming that there is no dwell of the escapement wheel.

In the position shown the tooth c is about to press on the pallet e to cause the pendulum to swing to the left and the pivot c to roll to the right and by the time the tooth c escapes from the pallet c the tooth (Z will be just in contact with the pallet (Z so that it will then act thereon to cause the pendulum to swing to the right and the pivot c to roll to the left.

In place of arranging the balance arm when at rest it may be disposed to be horizontal and one convenient method of efi'ecting this is shown in Figs. 3, l and 6 where the balance arm a with its pallets (Z c is carried by a stirrup or bracket is suspended by a boss Z around the pivot of the escape wheel 7' and from a bridge-plate m. It will be obvious, however, that the stirrup attaclnnent such as is employed for the horizontal balance arm may be modified to suit the vertica form of balance.

In any modification of the invention the balance arm is'adapted to carry weights 0 and adjustment for timing may be readily etl ected by varying the perpendicular distance of the center of gravity of the weights from the axis of suspension. Thus, in the vertical form shown in Fig. 5 the adjustment may be effected by moving the weights or one or other of them along the balance arm while in the horizontal form the ad justment may conveniently be effected by mounting the weights 0 eccentrically on the balance arm which may be rotated within the block a to effect the required adjustme ts.

The vertical form of arm may be looped at ;0 (Fig. 5) in order to pass the center spindle q of the clock movement'when the balance arm is arranged in front of the movement, and another loop may be formed to pass the spindle of the escape wheel 7 it it is desired to fit a secon'ds indicator.

The line X-Y in Fig. 6 passing through the center of the escape wheel 7' and the center spindle 9 indicates how the vertical axis of the clock may be tilted to a considerable extentand yet allow the pivot c of the balance arm to remain directly beneath the center of the escape wheel while at the same time keeping the pallets in correct re lation to the wheel tooth.

lVith the pivots of the balance arm rolling in the curved race or slot no lubrication is required, and the pallets if attached to the balance require no other pivots and are free from the wear and other objections which are always associated with pivots working in inclosed holes and requiring lubrication.

It isa further advantage that a timepiece fitted with this formof balance does not require additional and delicate. parts necessary where quick moving pendulum or standard ,formofbalance issused and; is consequently simple and inexpensive to manufacture while at the same time being eX- ceedingly silent in operation.

Further, it requires much less driving power than quickly moving wheels and pivots with the result that much of the strain and wear is eliminated so that greater reliability and longer life is assured for the mechanism.

The curve of the recess can be so arranged that the rolling motion of the pivots to right or left of the vertical causes every point or the weighted and compound are to describe a hypocycloidal are instead of a circular are as in ordinary escapements, but it is clear that by making the radius of the circle on which the pivot rolls very great the lrvpcycloid will approximate to a true c gcloid and the oscillations will become truly isochronous.

The invention is applicable to many types of clocks and timepieces and is particularly applicable to that form in which the weight ot the entire clock movement is used to provide the necessary energy for driving the mechanism. This latter form of clock is illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 in which the case '1- carrying the frame .5 of the movement is free to slide on the pillars or guides if, the latter being cut in the form of a rack adapted gear with the driving pinion u of the wheel train.

The motion of the pinion u in rolling down the rack transmits movement to the escape wheel 7 in the usual way through the wheels 1) 'w a; and the pinions 1, 2, 3.

In order to facilitate economical manufacture the wheels o, co, m are alike in diameter and pitch containing, say, 60 teeth, while the pinions u, 1 and 2-, are also alike containing, say 10 teeth. In such case the pinion 3 contains 6 teeth and revolves once per minute, while the escape wheel f'contains 30 teeth for seconds control.

Provision for the differences in driving pressure may be made by varying the thickness of the wheels o, w, m.

For the purpose of raising the clock which is equivalent to the action of winding the pinion u and the wheel are separately formed and normally move together by means of a clutch 4, maintained in action by a spring 5.

Either the wheel or the pinion is free to slide on its spindle thus allowing the pinion to rotate in one direction independently of the wheel train.

The hands of the clock are shown independently of their spindles at 6 and 7, while the usual motion wheels for driving the hour hand are also omitted. When ar ranged as described with the balance arm in front of the movement a plate, 8, may conveniently be used to cover the movement and aring dial, 9, employed.

It will be understood that-the foregoing details of construction are given by Wa of example only, as it will be clear that l may modify the form and arrangement of slot or track on or in which the pivot or pivots roll, the form of wheel train employed, the means for imparting the necessary energy to the mechanism and the details of construction relative to the balance arm, pallets and escape wheel, all as may be determined by the type or construction of clock to which the invention is to be applied or any particular practical requirements that may have to be fulfilled.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is 1. A clock in which the balance member iscarried by a pivot or pivots adapted to roll relatively to the bearing or bearings for such pivot or pivots.

2. A clock as claimed in claim 1, in which the balance member carries the pallets.

3. A clock as claimedin claim 1,in which the track on which the pivot rolls is curved.

or arcuate.

4. A clock as claimed in claim 1, in which the balance member is carried by a stirrup supported by a pivot or pivots adapted to roll relatively to the bearing or bearings supporting said pivot or pivots.

5. A clock in which the compound or other pendulumcarries pallets and pivots which roll in a curved slot or upon a curved track.

6. A clock as claimed in claim 3,in which the curve on which the pivot rolls is an arc of a circle struck from the center of the escapement wheel.

7. A clock as claimed in claim 1,in which the balance member consists of a balance arm carrying weights upon either side of the point of suspension and suitably supported.

. 8. A clock as claimed in claim 7 in which the adjustment for timing is made by altering the perpendicular distance of the center of gravity of the weights from the axis of suspension.

9. A clock in which the compound or other pendulum carries pallets and pivots which roll on a curved track formin an arc of a circle struck from the center o f the escapement wheel.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification.

THOMAS WATSON. CHRISTOPHER FREDERICK WEBB. 

